I ordered several daylilies from Garden Perennials this Spring, and am enjoying flowers already:

I ordered 3 clematis for this year from a previous sponsor, Brushwood Nurseries, and they bloomed their first spring.

My May NARR prize, an Unbreakable Broadfork (standard size) from EasyDigging.com is an amazing tool. Before the Broadfork, it took me ALL DAY to plant 12 daylilies in previously worked soil. (I hired a track hoe guy to dig holes for my fruit trees.) With the Broadfork, breaking new ground, I got 15 daylilies done in 5 hours from start to finish, and didn't need the chiropractor afterwards.

This picture is what one "fork full" pulled up out of my ground.
Thank you, EasyDigging.com!
If I had not won this tool, but had a chance to try it, I would have ordered one. It beats a pick and shovel to pieces, and it is much cheaper than hiring the track hoe.

Great prize plants Diana, but that Unbreakable Broadfork take the prize in my book. I could surely use one of those.

valleylynn said:Great prize plants Diana, but that Unbreakable Broadfork take the prize in my book. I could surely use one of those.

I ordered and paid for the plants from the first two companies, because I was looking for daylilies and clematis anyways, and I did not win them. I was very satisfied with my orders from both companies.
I was unfamiliar with what a broadfork was prior to the prize being offered by EasyDigging.com. I was informed by my local organic farmers that nothing else would do for this area. They already had bought a standard size and a long-handled unbreakable broadfork (hers and his) and had tilled about a quarter acre of land by hand with them over 3 seasons. That was not what I had planned to choose, but they hinted that I would be a fool not to get one, and they were right.
Do you have rocky soil too?

No rocky soil, but hard clay.

I have some hard clay too, and the broadfork broke that up too, as long as it wasn't too wet.

Okay, now I really want one!

Happy it is working out so well for you.

Me too

I have one and couldn't do without it. I have one area by my porch that is very hard clay the lady at the garden center said if I add gypsum it will break the clay down and turn it back to sand. I haven't tried it yet. Wondering if you've heard of this?

Hi Peggy,

Yes, in theory, it could work. However it is meant for heavy agricultural soils with crop rotation where calcium is easily depleted from the soil. also gypsum can have many negative effects in the home landscape, for example leaching different essential nutrients from the soil. Further, gypsum doesn't work on layered soils which most Suburban soils become, even if they have a clay base. And you still have to work it in! Try 10% v/v natural pumice, which can help to form little air pockets in the soil, and organic mulch. Both of these have to be mixed in, so the tool mentioned above would be perfect (unless you have a Super Mole living in your Neighborhood, like I do, who performs all the soil "mixing" you could ever want then sprinkle pumice where Super Mole likes to tunnel--everywhere--and let him do his thing).

LivingWreaths said:Hi Peggy,

Yes, in theory, it could work. However it is meant for heavy agricultural soils with crop rotation where calcium is easily depleted from the soil. also gypsum can have many negative effects in the home landscape, for example leaching different essential nutrients from the soil. Further, gypsum doesn't work on layered soils which most Suburban soils become, even if they have a clay base. And you still have to work it in! Try 10% v/v natural pumice, which can help to form little air pockets in the soil, and organic mulch. Both of these have to be mixed in, so the tool mentioned above would be perfect (unless you have a Super Mole living in your Neighborhood, like I do, who performs all the soil "mixing" you could ever want then sprinkle pumice where Super Mole likes to tunnel--everywhere--and let him do his thing).

Thank you so much! That really helps me. I'm glad I didn't try gypsum.